“The Anglican Church League commends the leadership of the Anglican Network in Canada on its godly response to the decision of the B.C. Supreme Court.

We remain committed to supporting the faithful men and women of the four congregations (St John’s Shaughnessy, St Matthew’s Abbotsford, St Matthias & St Luke West 49th Vancouver, and Good Shepherd Church East 19th Vancouver) who have suffered over the past months and now face a measure of uncertainty about the future.

Throughout this ordeal it has been apparent to those who have been watching around the world that these four congregations are facing persecution for their steadfast resolve to remain true to the word of God. In this they have shown themselves to be faithful disciples of Christ and true heirs of the Anglican heritage of Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley and others. We have been encouraged by their graciousness amidst extraordinary provocation and by their refusal to surrender biblical principles for the sake of an illusory peace. With or without their buildings they are the blessed people of God who by their example are blessing others.

The ACL Council encourages all its members to continue in prayer for these four congregations, and in particular those who serve them in leadership, at this difficult time.

Statement on the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica, from the President of the Anglican Church League, Rev. Dr. Mark Thompson:

“We have once again been shown how firmly apostasy and deception is embedded in the international structures of Anglicanism. There is no hope for the future there.”

The reports from the 14th Anglican Consultative Council meeting being held in Jamaica make for depressing reading. ‘Assume incompetence rather than malevolence’, the old saying goes. That is becoming harder and harder to do, even for the optimists amongst us.

The intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury at crucial points to serve the interests of TEC and its presiding bishop and to thwart the attempts to bring real accountability to bear on those who have abandoned the teaching of Scripture and are pursuing the property of faithful Anglicans through the courts, undermines any suggestion that he is providing genuine leadership at this crucial time. The activities of other officials from the Anglican Communion Office were even more openly serving the revisionist agenda.

We have once again been shown how firmly apostasy and deception is embedded in the international structures of Anglicanism. There is no hope for the future there. Generous-hearted faithful Anglicans have been willing to keep trying for a resolution through those structures and once again they have been betrayed at the highest level. The goodwill of faithful men and women has been presumed upon and taken as a sign of weakness or a lack of resolve. We need to pray for those who have been so seriously disillusioned this week.

The future of the gospel mission does not ultimately depend upon the structures of Anglicanism, of course. God’s determination to save men and women will be realised. All over the world men and women are being brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ and confident Christian discipleship in the light of all that he has done. The 14th Anglican Consultative Council meeting is ultimately irrelevant. The prayerful proclamation of Christ and his gospel continues despite the political machinations in Jamaica.

Gospel-minded men and women are banding together in the midst of this Anglican chaos. It is not easy and there are certainly significant hurdles that will need to be negotiated in the future. However, the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans that emerged out of GAFCON is all the more important in the light of recent events. The international chaos has touched the lives of local congregations in other parts of the world. If we do not stand together at this crucial time, that struggle will become the personal experience of more and more faithful Anglicans.

I encourage all members of the ACL to pray for wisdom for the GAFCON primates and for the leaders of our own diocese. Real leadership often means isolation. We need to pray that these faithful men will continue to be prayerful, humble and courageous, dependent upon God’s Spirit and submitting all their thoughts and decisions to the scrutiny of God’s word. The ancient enemy of the gospel will be hard at work to turn us against each other. We should pray that God himself would preserve our unity and give us that proper sense of proportion to know what matters and what does not.

Yet let us learn the lesson from this most recent meeting of the ACC. We cannot afford to pin our hopes on ecclesiastical structures or even on individual leaders. The hope for a vibrant, robust, faithful Anglican witness to the gospel of Christ in this century rests in God and his work to bring about genuine repentance and faith in the lives of men and women.

THE COUNCIL OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH LEAGUE SENDS GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS GATHERED IN THE NEW PROVINCE OF NORTH AMERICA

1. The ACL welcomes this new development while remaining deeply saddened by the circumstances which made it necessary. Faithful Anglicans have been marginalised within The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada because of their determination to remain faithful to the Scriptures as expressed in the Creeds and the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion. We rejoice with these our brothers and sisters in this way forward out of the difficulties that have plagued them over the past five years and more.

2. The Statement on the Global Anglican Future published in Jerusalem in June 2008 said ‘In particular, we believe the time is now ripe for the formation of a province in North America for the federation currently known as Common Cause Partnership to be recognised by the Primates’ Council.’ The ACL recognises the new Province of North America as fulfilling the vision of the GAFCON Primates’ Council.

3. There can be no doubt about the authentic Anglican character of this new province. It contains Anglicans from a variety of traditions who, though different at significant points and committed to taking seriously those differences, share the same prior commitment to the supreme Lordship of Christ and the authority of the Scriptures in all matters of faith and life. They have proven themselves to be faithful men and women who embrace the classic Anglicanism of the Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, and more recently, the Jerusalem Declaration.

4. It is a matter of profound regret that Lambeth 2008 and the other so-called Instruments of Communion (the Anglican Consultative Council, The Primates’ Meeting and the Archbishop of Canterbury) have failed to address the crisis with any urgency or meaningful action. Their delay has given further opportunity to those who are using all means possible to hinder the faithful gospel ministry of orthodox Anglican Christians in North America and beyond.

5. We congratulate Bishop Bob Duncan on his election as Archbishop and Primate of the Province of North America. We pledge him and the members of the new Province our support and our prayers for the future. We call on all Anglicans around the world to join with us in these prayers and in congratulating the churches of North America for taking this bold but necessary step.

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever! (Rev. 5:13)

Mark D Thompson, President
Robert Tong, Chairman
On behalf of the Council of the Anglican Church League
3 December 2008

ACL President, Rev. Dr. Mark Thompson, has released this Statement about GAFCON:

“Nobody present last week in Jerusalem wanted to split the Anglican Communion. No one wanted to leave the Anglican Communion. All wanted to see a robust and authentic Anglicanism which could courageously play a part in God’s great mission of reaching out to lost men and women with the gospel of redemption in Christ.”

Full text —

I have just returned from the GAFCON meeting in Jerusalem. It was a time of rich fellowship, clear thinking and firm resolve. It was also a time of very deliberate dependence upon God. Authentic Anglican doctrine, grounded in the Scripture, reflected in the Thirty-nine Articles and joyfully embraced by the majority of the world’s practicing Anglicans, was once again on centre stage. The Lordship of Christ, who is the only Saviour of men and women, the supreme authority of the teaching of the Bible for Christian faith and life, and the urgency of mission in a world lost in rebellion against the living God, were all unambiguously proclaimed in fresh ways which encouraged God’s people and nourished faith. The Conference statement offered hope and order where time and again official Anglican pronouncements have only given further cause for disillusionment, confusion and disarray.

GAFCON has provided us with a way forward that is sober, serious and faces the realities of global Anglicanism in the twenty-first century. It has addressed directly the crisis brought about by various departures from biblical teaching and faithful Christian living in parts of the Communion and exascerbated by ineffective leadership. It has issued a call to biblical faithfulness and effective mission in the face of overwhelming need.

One further thing is beyond doubt. Nobody present last week in Jerusalem wanted to split the Anglican Communion. No one wanted to leave the Anglican Communion. All wanted to see a robust and authentic Anglicanism which could courageously play a part in God’s great mission of reaching out to lost men and women with the gospel of redemption in Christ. In the words of the Primates from almost six years ago now, the Communion has been ‘torn at the deepest level’ and we are now seeking God’s wisdom for how we are to live in the light of this new reality which is not of our making.

Gospel minded men and women all over the world will rejoice when they read this conference statement, just as the assembled crowed burst into spontaneous applause and rejoicing when it was first read to them last Sunday. Here at last is the leadership we have been praying for. The Primates who called this conference are passionate and biblically faithful. They are humble and bold at the same time. And they will not flinch when faced with the hostility of the revisionists, who continue to prosecute, depose and defame men and women who will not accept their false gospel.

We have much to thank God for as we reflect on the GAFCON and its outcome. Of course there will be opposition and it is likely to be intense. You cannot challenge such entrenched self-interest and it be otherwise. Yet there is every cause to hope and pray that many, many others will join with us in getting on with the most important job of all: testifying to God’s saving mercy in Jesus Christ and living transformed lives in the light of that good news. To that end I trust the GAFCON documents will be very useful indeed.